Better Conference So Far: AFC or NFC? (Hour 2)

What's up everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.

What's up everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. We're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there for home loan solutions that fit your life well.

Rocket can. Grant Paulson from The Fan in D.C. going to join us coming up 20 minutes from now as we're going to chat about this Dan Snyder story as supposedly Dan Snyder has dirt on all the owners of the NFL as private investigators tracking the owners and reportedly even the commissioner, Roger Goodell. He's got a file on Jerry Jones and if you want to kick him out of the NFL, then he's going to burn the house down with him and expose the National Football League. So we'll chat with one of the best talk shows in D.C. Grant Paulson coming up. 20 minutes from now at the top of the hour, Roman Harper's going to join us. We will chat a little Sean Payton's future and also delve into all the chaos that is going to be upcoming this weekend on Saturday in college football as you've got some big games headlined by Alabama and Tennessee.

Before we get to a news brief, though, I just saw this during the break. You do have week six kicking off the NFL season tonight. I guess you could say that's a game between the Washington commanders as they go to Chicago to go up against the Chicago Bears. If the playoffs were to start today, hot day, Kiki, do you think you could name the seven teams in the AFC and the seven teams in the NFC that would be in the postseason right now for the first five weeks of the season? Um, let's see.

Probably not, but we'll take a try. OK. Bills. Yes. Number one seed Ravens out of the north.

Yes. They would be the four seed south as the Titans. They would be the three seed. West is the Chiefs. They would be the two seed for four so far. Wildcard, go ahead.

Why? I'm assuming they're all three and two, correct? Um, yes, yes, yes, yes. All three of them. I will go with the Dolphins. They are the six seed. The Jets. They are the fifth seed. The Jets is the five seed.

And then in at number seven. Very important that this guy makes the playoffs this year. Chargers. Yes.

Good job. OK, so that would be the Bills is the one seed, so they'd be off. Wildcard weekend. You'd have the Chiefs hosting the Chargers, the Titans hosting the Dolphins and the Ravens hosting the Jets. Not the best wildcard matchups in the world.

Not great right now, but it's early. NFC. You think you get the seven seeds? Eagles. Numero uno.

That was a tough one, man. Vikings. Yeah, they're the two seed. Watch out. Buccaneers.

No. Yeah, the Buccaneers are the three seed. Oh, I was like, wait a second. Hold on. And then the 49ers out of the west. Four seed. All right, now get me the wildcard teams here. Have to be Cowboys. Yes. Giants.

Yes. One more team. Giants. Cowboys.

Packers. Yeah, look at that. Look at that.

Difficult. It's five weeks into the season. Fourteen for fourteen. That's all I heard.

That's all I care about. Vikings playing the Packers in round one. Now that would be fun. It would be the Bucks against the Giants. And the 49ers against the Cowboys.

Can I just ask a question here? Not terrible. Pretty good. Is the NFC starting to shape up as a better conference than the AFC?

In terms of depth in the conference. I will right now still say no. So will I.

Here's why. The Bills and the Chiefs are a great one-two punch. It's the Eagles that it's like, eh, who's that other team that's going to be the two part in the punch?

I think that's a major tone setter. And also, do I think the Jets are going to make the playoffs? No. So if the Jets are out, would that be Cincinnati?

Probably. Cincinnati would be a strong potential six or seven seed this year. Some other options that could be at hand that you start to think about. But really, the NFC. If let's just say the Giants don't make the playoffs. I think the Giants actually could make the playoffs. Like, who else are you looking at to go get one of those playoff spots outside of the other six teams that we just talked about? I mean, talent wise, you say the Rams. Yeah, the Rams. They've played bad. The Rams don't make the playoffs.

That'd be disappointing. But the Cardinals are not that good. I know they're getting Hopkins back after this week, but still not look good.

Like you look at it. The North is between just the Packers and the Vikings. The South Tampa's already won it. And in the West, like, I don't know if any, I think I would say the 49ers win right now. I would lean 49ers.

I know that you're still sticking with the Rams. But you look at the AFC East, you would think Buffalo's going to win it. But, you know, can the Dolphins quickly rebound?

Probably not because of the health of Tua. They've already beat them once. You look at the AFC North, seems like this is a Ravens-Bengals type of race. The AFC South, who knows who's going to win that? And then the AFC West, yeah, it's going to be Kansas City. But I do think there's going to be a second emerging strong wildcard team from the AFC West eventually. But the AFC is not as good as what we thought it was.

Here's how you say it. The AFC is not as good as what we thought it was before the season. But I would still say from a depth standpoint, the AFC is going to be better than the NFC because the Packers do not look great.

The Bucks don't look great, even though I still think the Bucks will find a way to turn around. And the Eagles have been damn good. Now, will the Eagles ever take a step back or two this year?

That, we'll have to wait and see. But I don't think the gap is as big as what we thought it was before the season did start. I think it's also fair to say, you're 100% right, I think the NFC so far has been a little bit better than we expected. Like you mentioned, it's been some bad teams, but it seems like the Giants have surprised the Vikings with their record of surprise.

Yeah, let's just call it how it is. The AFC, because of the Bills and the Chiefs, if I'm asking you three teams to win a Super Bowl, the Bills and the Chiefs are going to have to be on everyone's list. And right now the Eagles would be the one team from the NFC. Is there going to be a time to win a Super Bowl this year that one of those teams in the NFC, like outside of let's say Philadelphia, Philadelphia maintains from start to finish the number one seed. Is there going to be a number two seed in the NFC that we go, or a second team in the NFC that we go, wow, one of those teams were feeling really confident about taking down Buffalo or taking down Kansas City and knocking them out of the top three.

I can't say it's a Packers right now. The Rams, can they win their division first? Can they win a game first?

I know, crap. The team that it's going to be, death taxes, Tom Brady, right? Because that defense is very good. Defense is championship caliber, I know they got destroyed by the Chiefs, but offensively, that offense has not hummed yet. Which is kind of shocking that through five games of a season, a Brady team has not found a way to get going. But really, like, you look at that offense, the line has not been good, receivers have been in and out of the lineup. You got to think eventually that offensive line is going to get some continuity and gel, and you'll get some wide receivers back.

And maybe just after Thanksgiving, those guys start to get healthy in your role. You know, we didn't talk about this team. Yes, we didn't talk about the Bucks as a potential destination for Odell. But you know how much Odell loves Tom Brady. Remember when Brady's with the Pats and they played the Browns in that game in the rain and Odell gifted him those goat shoes? Is Odell a destination for the Bucks? I know they got Mike Evans a stud, Godwin's been in and out of lineup with injuries, Julio in and out of lineup. Does Odell look at the Bucks and say, okay, I finally get to team up with TB12 and go try to win a Super Bowl and send Tom Brady off into the sunset with how much respect and reverence he has for TB12? I guess the reason why you have to consider it is because even with Gronk, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin back in 2020, Tom Brady still said, I want more, and he brought in AB.

Yeah, so you still look at, like you mentioned, you round up 3-4, Russell Gage, they have like 4-5 DB receiver, but Tom Brady's always going to say, I want more. By the way, this is an obvious statement. Just since you brought up AB and triggered the thought, AB's a jackass. Tom Brady was one of the last people, the last person in the NFL, to defend you. He opened up his home to you.

He let you live with him. Everyone said, AB's toxic, AB's toxic, stay away from AB. I think this is now a two-week-old story, but when you had that whole Gisele bunching thing that Gisele and Tom reportedly are hiring divorce lawyers, I don't think we ever talked about this, but AB puts up that Instagram post or he put up some post with Tom leaving the house and Gisele like standing on the front stoop and AB's like looking in the window of Tom Brady's house. That's a, it's not surprising coming from the source, but it makes AB once again look like a real jackass, a fool with a D-bag, if we're just going to be honest. And the amazing part is, is that he resets like rock bottom for how like low you can get like every week. He's an a-hole. But it's just amazing how he continues, even for his standards, like you mentioned, it's like, wow, that's bad even for AB, and he continues like once a week to do something or say something that resets the bar. Now he only cares about himself.

That is crystal clear. But when someone was so kind to you, and I get it, right, Brady did, I guess, got a benefit of it because they did have AB and AB caught a touchdown in that Super Bowl. But when no one else wanted to bring you on a roster, Tom Brady convinced Bruce Arians and also Jason Light to bring you in. Because if you remember on this network, Bruce Arians came on this network and said, yeah, we're not dealing with AB. And Brady said, no, let's bring him in, let's go get him, and then opened up his home to you. Not that like AB couldn't find a place to live, the guy supposedly has enough money and right, he was getting paid to do so. But the animosity that AB has towards Tom Brady just shows you how lost and how much of a lost cause Antonio Brown is because that was someone that was willing to help you and in some way did help you. And now when the guys in what we think is in the midst of a divorce, you're going to basically repost or put up a photo op that you're moving in with Giselle. It's so classless. Not surprising, but classless. Also, our company, by the way, the amount of posts that our company has on Tom Brady's divorce is getting a little bit too much for me.

But we don't need every single page six rumor posted about Tom Brady's potential divorce here. Did you see the other day? Do you have any idea what I'm referring to here?

No, I don't. So there was some article that Giselle likes some posts on Instagram and basically I forget exactly the wording directly of what the post was, but it was basically saying, you know, in a relationship, it takes two people to put in the time and the investment and all that. And Giselle liked it, right? It was a how there's usually like a subtweet of us, I guess you want to call it a sub like or she like passively aggressive liked it. I see our company writing up articles about an Instagram post that Giselle Bunchen liked. Who gives a rat's ass?

I love our company, but sometimes our company posts stupid things like I thought that was a stupid article. I hate to say I think more people care about than you think. It's the drama that is not in your personal life that everyone else loves to see. It's why shows like The Bachelor are so popular. And I love reality television.

That's right. You're a big Jersey Shore fan. Huge Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of New Jersey. People love to be nosy and love to see perfect people's lives come to the realization that it's not perfect. I think it's fair to characterize or you would think from the outside Tom Brady's got it all Giselle's got it all like, oh, they must love this tremendous life. And now we're finding out not the case. There's more, you know, issues or hardships than we thought.

And now it's like, oh, see, like they're not as different as you know, you and I. You can't be appreciate. Here was the post. You can't be in a committed relationship with someone who is inconsistent with you. Read that again.

And Giselle like that and then commented on it with a prayer emoji. Hmm. Come on. Hmm.

Or maybe she's sending subtle signs to get Tom back. You know what? There's some things that we can't get a write up about. But Giselle Bunchen from our own company gets a write up because she dropped a prayer and emoji on an Instagram post. Give me a break when you're that famous and that elite. Every you breathe watches.

I'll breathe this. Would you click on that if you saw that story? What was the headline? It was something like Giselle sends message to Tom Brady with Instagram comment or something like that.

Probably not. But I'm also probably not the target audience for that. I guess that's why people like actually Giselle like the cryptic posts amid the Brady drama. I hate to say it. Cryptic would have got me. Oh, cryptic would have got me. OK. Oh, you know, actually wrote the article. Oh, you know what it was? It was an E.I. article that E.I. is owned by Odyssey that then Odyssey blasted out there.

Reposted. Yeah. So it's still an Odyssey article. It's from Alex Reimer, who's hosted a few shows on the network. Alex is a good guy, but it's cryptic. Yeah.

Because then I would have my brain would have thought like, oh, is this like Tom Brady's? How many paragraphs? How many paragraphs in this story is? Now that I know what it's about, it should be no more than three. But you're counting still. And so I know it's a lot more than just three paragraphs on like eight lines. Fourteen. Oh, what? Now, that's where it's excessive.

Like there is a paragraph of just like one line and then it like spaces twice. And then what's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen, as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum. You know me.

I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.

What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen, as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum.

You know me. I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. Basically, that article should be a screenshot of what you liked and there's no analysis. It's just right there in front of you. Especially from what we're told was the people that work at the website now, they want to try to keep everything as concise as possible. Fourteen paragraphs? I don't hate the post itself, but I would say let's get three and get out. Three pages, boom, boom, boom with three paragraphs. I think the post was from two days ago.

I saw it and I was like, that's going to be stored in my brain somewhere. I have no clue how it's going to come up on the show, but I knew that it was eventually going to come up on the show. And here we are. We'll do the news brief coming up at 7.40 p.m. Eastern today, 4.40 p.m. Pacific. When we come on back, let's tap into our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Another story about Dan Snyder. We'll get all the latest with Grant Paulson, one of the best talk show hosts inside the Odyssey Company and hosting at 106.7 The Fancy. Bash the company in one breath, then we praise the company.

I'm still a company guy, but we can't bash the company too much. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Another story out on Dan Snyder this time. Supposedly Dan Snyder has dirt on the owners of the NFL, has even hired private investigators tracking the owners and even the commissioner, Roger Goodell. A little birthday present for Jerry Jones who turns 80 today, has a file on Jerry Jones.

And if the NFL wants to remove him, he's going to try to bring the NFL down with him. Let's tap into our nation's capital in D.C. and we connect with Grant Paulson, who does a great job at 106.7 The Fan. Grant, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Zach, my pleasure.

You must have known I saw Top Gun Maverick in theater four times, including in IMAX with that intro there. Well done. Yeah, but we're not that intelligent as you give us credit for around here. Hickey is not very great with music.

Whatever's in the system, he just plays. I know how that goes. Sometimes we'll have guests on and they're like, oh, wow, you knew that was my favorite band. I'm like, yeah, absolutely, man. We did our research.

Take it where you can get it, right? Unlike Dan Snyder, we are an honest radio program and an honest operation around here. That makes something I'm not used to talking about. Yeah, it was an incredible day here in D.C. You know, these bombshells come up for a lot of organizations.

This would be a real game changer or some type of major sequence in moment. And for Washington to be completely honest with you, it was Thursday, man. What did you make of this when the news did come down or you read through the article, the long article that Dan Snyder is already plotting revenge at the NFL was going to remove him.

What was the initial reaction? Not surprised at all. I mean, this is how he's done business for a long time locally. This is how he's run his organization based on the people that I've talked to in various capacities that worked for and alongside him for many, many years.

You know, he kind of ruled by way of trying to intimidate. And you don't want the 3 a.m. phone call is the way it was always described to me by people who had to answer that phone call from Dan Snyder. I mean, I can paint a picture at the start of this eight thousand plus word report and column in ESPN that Wickersham, Don Van Nada and Trisha Thompson wrote where they talk about Snyder walking around with a drink in his hand, kind of furious and just screaming that he is going to essentially get after whoever comes after him.

It almost seems like a scene out of a movie or something, like one of the power players in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon or something as they're walking around with their wine. But that's kind of the drill in Ashburn. It's a culture that is toxic, not just because of the harassment or the way that people are treated. It's because everyone's kind of afraid in many capacities of what happens if you get on Dan Snyder's bad side. So for a long time, fans have wondered why haven't voters, the owners rather voted him out. I think a lot of them are worried about the fact that he's not the kind of guy that's going to go down quietly, Zach. He's bringing you with him, man. He's going to have a gas can and a lighter and he's going to go down swinging. Here was my thought once I was able to process it and read the entire thing was so many people would be jumping for joy.

And I think that's the understatement of the year. If Dan Snyder was removed by the NFL as the owner of the commanders, the commanders fans do deserve better. I just wonder what he has that could be so damaging that would make people just not simply say, ah, this guy's just being bitter.

This is just like your crazy uncle at the barbecue that you just go, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say, and then you just try to walk away and forget about the guy. So it's a great question. I obviously don't have the answer, but I would just say that for most of these billionaire owners who are some of them in their 60s, 70s, whatever it is that, you know, whatever skeletons they've got in their closet, they don't want public.

Right. And each time an owner is forced to sell the threshold, the bar with which we consider a necessity to get you out of ownership is lowered in some capacity. And I just think those goalposts being moved closer in on them is not something any owners want. But here's something that I found compelling about this piece in ESPN today, Zach, is it does seem like, believe it or not, more so than sexual harassment allegations or even assault allegations or the toxic workplace or the losing for 30 years that cost them money because FedEx Field is dead last in attendance and there's just money that's being left on the table for the league. The thing that could actually haunt Dan Snyder with other owners is his inability to get a new stadium. And what you are now seeing is for people listening all over the country, I mean, there was a time where D.C., Virginia and Maryland all were having a knockdown, drag out battle royale for this football team when they were the Redskins. And the last time they built the stadium in the mid 90s, that was the case, and they went out to land over Maryland.

Well, now none of the three want to touch them. And essentially, all three have said we're not going to do business with Dan Snyder. And that is what the other owners in the sport are most upset about. It's what they're most worried about. And that if something's going to be as undoing could be the real shooting, the smoking gun, if you will, for these other owners is that they say, you know what, if we can't get another stadium built or a new stadium built when that's already the worst in the league until he's out.

And we've got to expedite that process. And that stadium's horrible. Because I've been to games first off. It's filled with the other team's fans, it seems like, each and every week. But getting there is a disaster. And then if you try to take public transportation, you've got to walk forever once you leave the game to try to get on the train.

It's just a mess. So it's one of two stadiums in the NFL, I saw a study done this year, where there is not a bar or restaurant within a mile of the state. I mean, it quite literally is near nothing, okay? To your point, and this has been a point of contention here locally for a long time, you can't really take public transportation there. There are metro stops that get you to within a mile and some change, but you're walking on overpasses and things and it is not a pleasant walk by any means. And it's a lengthy walk that not everyone's able to do.

So yeah, you're right. You're driving there. Traffic is terrible. They're gouging you in parking. I mean, at different points over the years, Snyder has even challenged to make it so that fans couldn't walk.

They now can, because he wanted everyone, obviously, to come and park and pay that freight. But yeah, it is voted in all of the publications that do these things at the bottom, if not dead last every year. I mean, they've had some embarrassing situations over the last couple of years, and frankly, there's enough to pile on football-wise, so I'm not one of the people that compiles these lists, but they had a gate over top of the visiting tunnel fall that people may have seen. Yeah, with Jalen Hurts. They've collapsed on Jalen Hurts. They've got people suing them for that. They've had Pikes burst. Every time there's a game there, something happens, and what it honestly comes down to, I really believe this, Zach.

I've talked to people about this. They have been thinking for so many years they'd be in a new stadium by now, but it's almost like, imagine you thinking you're moving out of your house, your toilet breaks, and they just don't fix stuff, right? Or are having to the extent that they needed to. Not this current regime, but the one previously, because they thought they'd be getting a new stadium, and now that they're not, all these things that for years they just kind of let go are hindering them.

So they've got a new group of people that's trying really hard now, but it's almost too little, too late. You've been asked this question probably a thousand times, and usually the answer is no. You don't think Dan Snyder's going to be removed as an owner because a lot of those owners don't want those skeletons to be aired that are in their closet. What do you think ends up happening here? Is Dan Snyder, and we're talking five years from now, still the owner of this football team? I would still bet yes. I am less confident and adamant about that now than I was when we talked about this months ago. But I will say this, I think there are two avenues that could be driven that result in Snyder no longer owning this team.

The first obviously is that the owners throw him out, whether that's because the stadium deal can't happen with him or because something else comes out. There's another, a sixth, by the way, there's six investigations he's involved in right now. But there is one going on with Mary Jo White who's going to come out at some point.

She's been working on it for nine months. One of the many things that could be in there is what actually happened on an airplane where there are allegations against Dan Snyder from a woman that was paid 1.6 million dollars from a flight that he was on many years ago coming back from the country music awards. If there's a bombshell, if she finds something out, if there's details in there we haven't seen, that could move owners to vote. But the thing that I think is the real only true possibility, Zach, is sponsors, right?

Why did the name change after years without movement? FedEx, from FedEx Field, and other sponsors came forward and said, we're not doing business with you anymore. And so if the NFL starts losing money, or even just the organization itself starts losing sponsorships, they say sponsorships are up 30% over the last year with all these investigations. That would cost owners cash out of their pocket, and that's when I think everything changes. But those are the only two things that could cost Dan Snyder a vote of 24 out of 32 saying get out, or sponsors pulling to the point where the league says, you can annoy us, but you're not going to cost us cash.

This machine is moving on without you. Now, this wasn't the biggest part of the story, clearly, Graham Paulson, but I did see that Carson Wentz in this story was really Dan Snyder driven. Do you have any knowledge of that, of that being true? Was this really more so Rivera and Wright?

Yeah, I haven't been able to confirm that. If that's the case, it's the least surprising thing I've heard all day. I mean, there hasn't been a quarterback move made here, Zach, since he got here, that his fingerprints weren't all over. And to be completely honest, I'm not sure how different that is in a lot of other organizations. Go back and there was an athletic piece about the Colts trade of Matt Ryan, and Jim Irsay had essentially told Chris Ballard, go get Matt Ryan. With the head coach, with the quarterback, these owners get involved. I will just tell you, though, the problem is that Dan Snyder's batting average on this is that of a AA player who got called up in a pinch and who's won for his first 33 at the plate.

Well below the Mendoza line. Dude, he just can't get on base in this regard. I mean, it just seems like every single time. It's like my gambling picks these days, honestly, Grant. He calls his shot on these quarterbacks, and he just hasn't been right. So I do believe he 100% was behind them going and getting a quarterback. He believes his silver bullet. He thinks he's got two kind of last-ditch effort Hail Marys, right?

He thinks number one is the new stadium, which right now is on the back burner and just seems like an impossibility with current politicians and him going head-to-head. But second would be winning the quarterback lottery, whether that's Bryce Young or whoever it is. If you go get CJ Stroud or you get the best quarterback in the league and next thing you know you found your Josh Allen and you're 12-5 or 13-4 every year, all of a sudden people hate you a lot less.

And he's probably right about that in all honesty, but Carson Wentz ain't that lottery ticket, man. So last year of this offseason, I should say, they went through the list. Aaron Rodgers wasn't a possibility. They offered 3-1s for Russell Wilson. I know they were willing to trade 3-1s plus.

He didn't want to come here. They moved on, I think, probably to Garoppolo, realized he wasn't healthy. And then it was Carson Wentz who rolled the dice with a Mariota type, and I think that's where Dan Snyder said, We're going and getting a name. Let's make a move. Rivera's on board.

All of the football people that I talked to all offseason and said all the right things, I think they wanted him as well. So I don't think that's as big a story or a surprise here, but I guess why it matters, Zach, is that the league has at least and the team has pretended as if Snyder's nowhere to be found. Yeah, which is just BS.

Come on. Oh, yeah, exactly. Like he's under some quasi-suspension. It's like, well, his wife is running the team. Do you think they might see each other maybe at dinner or I don't know? Yeah, have a conversation or two.

In their living room? Yeah. That suspension or, well, I know it wasn't a suspension, but him stepping away from day-to-day operations of the football team was the biggest load of crap I think I've ever heard. Well, it's hilarious. And again, he stepped away and appointed someone to run the team.

Who is his wife? Yeah. Right? I mean, so it's like you don't think he rolls over in bed every now and then goes, Hey, how's everything going with the commanders?

I thought about something I wanted you to do. Like, it's just so silly, you know? Well, even how they messed up the whole Sean Taylor when they were remembering the life of Sean Taylor. Like, he was on the sideline then. You know, wasn't he supposed to be away from the team? Like, he still goes to these games in the stadium, right?

Oh, absolutely. A spokesperson said last week he's been at every game this season. He can do whatever he wants. The sham of this suspension was always that it was kind of up to him to remove himself, but he doesn't want to talk. I mean, he hasn't publicly done a sit down interview where he actually faced questions in years.

He doesn't want to go to a loaner's meetings because as it was stated in the piece on ESPN today. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.

What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. I don't have many friends among owners. So Tanya Snyder goes to the owner's meetings. She's the public face now who will occasionally be at events. Not that she's taking questions.

She's done one interview I can remember where Adam Schefter asked her what her favorite food was and what her favorite color was. And I'm kidding a little bit. Just a fluff piece that the team had Adam Schefter do. But yeah, that's kind of the extent of what's happened. He picks and chooses what he wants to do and what he doesn't.

And that's how it works. Last thing I'll ask you, Grant Paulson from The Fan in D.C. talking about this Dan Snyder story. I've always thought heading into this year that even though Ron Rivera probably should be on the hot seat, he wouldn't be because even though Dan Snyder is a disgrace, Ron Rivera is basically that point person, the face of the organization. He does all the tough press conferences. In terms of football matters with how bad they've been this year, is he on the hot seat? Does Dan Snyder say, man, that's like one of the one thing about our organization that naturally people just like Ron Rivera?

So I'll keep him. I think Ron Rivera will be safe and his feet will be comfortable to sit in as long as this season doesn't go sideways to the point where it gets completely off the rails. Like if there's three in 14 or four in 13, then he's on the hot seat and he might have a hard time coming back. However, I think he'll be fine. I think they probably get to six wins, something like that, and they'll roll with him in the future.

That's my assessment. Now whether or not he should be on the hot seat is a different question. He's in full control of personnel.

He's the VP football ops, the GM, the head coach. Their personnel decisions since he got here have been well below average. The team is trending south every year. They were seven and nine in year one. They were seven and ten last year.

They're one in four right now. He has not done a very good job, but I think he's insulated enough. He was involved in helping rename the team and he's dealt with so many things off the field.

He's become something of a confidant in some ways behind the scenes to the power players that he probably has a little more stability than the average coach here would. Enjoy the game tonight. That's how it shows the state of this franchise.

You've got the Bears and the Commanders playing tonight. We even asked you a question about that, but always appreciate your time and thanks for carving it out for us. I appreciate you. Thanks so much. Now I've got to flip the switch and remember that there's actually a game. Pretty crazy.

Yeah, I would start drinking if I was you. Grant Paulson from the fan in DC joining us. It's time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Bears commanders tonight.

Ugly, ugly, ugly game. Let's hear from Matt Eberfluse, the head coach of the Bears, who says Justin Fields is progressing nicely so far this season. I just think he's getting comfortable in the offense.

I don't think it was any one thing, one particular thing. I just think he's getting more comfortable. And I think the coaches are getting comfortable with him. You know, as you go through the process, I think it's, you know, what guys are good at and, and really playing to his strengths.

And I think that's for any coach, you know, you just, you feel more comfortable with the more time you spend. That was a whole lot of nothing. That was just, let's speak in generalities and really not give you anything of substance on what you actually like about Justin Fields. I thought it was a pretty crappy answer there, Ryan. I guess, I mean, what else are you supposed to say? He stinks? But do they actually like him? I don't know.

I would think so. They're not really putting you in a position to succeed. Absolutely not. Nothing on that offense. And I'm not saying that the guy is this great quarterback and, you know, he didn't help himself with attacking the fan base after the game up against the Packers. So he made a dumb decision there, but it seems as if already, and I hate to say this because it's only two years in the league, that maybe after this year, they're going to be looking to move on. That's a guy personally I'd be interested in. I don't think Pols and Eberflue is actually believe in him, but I'd be interested to see him somewhere else. I hope he's out of Sam Darnold, which I thought, same thing.

Get him away from the Jets. You were a big Sam believer. I hope I'm not saying this thing about, you know, this time next year by Justin Fields, but you're right.

He deserves it too. Give a fresh start. You know what? I got two destinations for you, Justin. You could be the 9000th quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. In. In.

Do it tomorrow. You were also in for Sam Darnold. I was in for Sam Darnold. And Baker. And Baker. Oh yeah. I'm not hiding it. I was in for all those guys. Justin Fields, welcome to the club. He's going the other way. That's for sure. He's running the other way. Commanders? They'll get a look at him tonight.

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AutoZone. Let's hear from Mac Hollins on the emotions of losing four close games this season, this courtesy of our friends on the DA show on CBS Sports Radio. It's definitely upsetting. You know, you put everything into every week, every game, and to come that close, you know, to one final play, but that's the NFL, really. It's what you, what I've noticed over the years is that games are decided by two, maybe three plays, and the hardest thing is you never know when those plays are. You know, it's weird to say it because the Raiders are a one in four football team, and when you're a one in four football team, you appear to be a bad football team. I don't think though they're a bad football team. Like, they lose that game to the Chargers, sure. You threw three interceptions, it was still one score game. You blew a 20-nothing lead against the Cardinals, you lost an overtime. You lost to Tennessee by two points.

You beat the Broncos. And then against Kansas City, how many times have you seen a team go up three scores or go up by double digits against Kansas City and then lose the game? I don't think they're as bad as what the record says they are, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you they're a good team.

But I don't think they're as bad as a one in four would indicate. I think that, what, the point differential thing is five? It's kind of crazy for a team that's, you know, one in four, but you're right, they've been there almost every single game. Lost by one to the Chiefs, then lost by two to Tennessee, lost by six to the Cardinals. And I think it was six as well to the Chargers. Five to the Chargers. Five to the Chargers, okay. And then they won 32 to 23. So, close.

I'm not going to do the mental math there. Let's hear this also from the DA show. This could be one of the more bizarre things I've ever seen from an NFL athlete. Matt Collins showed up to the interview without shoes on, and Matt Collins says he's barefoot basically any time he can be. As soon as I got out of the airport, the shoes finally got to come on. So you walked through Newark you came into? Yeah. You walked through Newark, you walked through the streets of New York City, you came into this building, and you're not terrified of what you're stepping in?

No. You are a fearless human. You can't have venomous snakes. I can walk around with them.

Seriously. If you can survive that, you can survive anything. Anything.

Any animal, bring it to me. Oh yeah, I've been barefoot for a couple years now. When I'm in Florida, I basically wear it. I'm about as close to a nudist as you can get. I just wear shorts and no shirt and no socks and I just walk around in it.

Florida accepts me. Now I also saw that he was on Good Morning Football this AM, and they had him put his feet on the breakfast table. I don't even think Rex Ryan would have touched those feet. Those feet were filthy. And no surprise, you're walking around the streets of New York City. That is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen from something that is so avoidable. DA should have said, with all due respect, you're a moron.

Like, that's what I would have done. Those shoes walking around the streets of New York City? It's like rats running around, you got food everywhere, dog poop everywhere. Just dirt all over the place, gum all over the place.

That's disgusting. Aside from all the disgusting things he's walking because you're 100% right, as a prothete, I'd be also scared of just stepping on glass, stepping on a nail. Missing a game, Matt Collins, out with a foot injury.

Now every foot injury has to be, well, did he step on something or is it a twisted ankle? Also, the desert's hot in Vegas. You can't walk around, you don't think, barefoot in Vegas, can you? I think he's from Florida, is what he said in that clip.

In season. Maybe he's used for it, I don't know. He gets to New York, you get right off the airplane, I gotta put my feet on the ground in New York City. I will say, I respect that he wears shoes on the plane.

You have to. Well, you can take him off. You walk in, there's plenty of people that aren't shy about taking their shoes off on the plane. I was at a Super Bowl party this past year with Matt Collins, and he was wearing really nice shoes. I remember my agent introduced me to him, they were talking, and I remember looking down, I'm like, wow, he had these great shoes on, like really fancy shoes.

And now he's walking around barefoot. Kim Jordan gives his take on how to tackle a quarterback now moving forward. I don't know, after last week's penalties that were being thrown, I think you have to put a pillow down, read him a bedtime story, ask him if it's okay for him to lay down on the ground first. So I don't know, that's something that we have to address. So how did you address it? I'll bring a blanket with me, and I'll keep it and I'll be able to place it before I put him on the ground.

I'll ever so gently caress him and sing him a lullaby. I don't know. We'll have to deal with it just like we've dealt with in the last couple years. It looks like they're getting more egregious with it. I love how Kim Jordan is just making a mockery of the whole situation, how ridiculous it is.

I thought Chris Jones handled it perfectly for such a controversial moment, but then on a few days removed for Kim Jordan to just kind of mess up the entire thing and poke fun of the whole thing. I absolutely love that approach. By the way, we have a nice building here, but just walking barefoot on this carpeting, oh, Matt Collins, jeez, that's gross. Would you walk around barefoot on this carpeting here? Hot to kicky? In the studio, I would. In the control room, I absolutely would not, or I am no way. How many New York City blocks do you think you'd go barefoot before you just creep yourself out?

I love being barefoot in the summer, don't get me wrong. How much money? Zero.

But yeah, that's different. To walk a block, but walk five blocks to New York City barefoot, how much money quickly? I'd do it for $1,000. Only $1,000, that's it?

500k, there we go. Here we are on the Zach Gelb show, $1,000 hot to kicky, you'll get to see his feet and walk up and down the rat-infested streets in New York City. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studios. Available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.